Catheterization and interventional procedures, such as angioplasty and stenting, are generally performed by inserting a hollow needle through a patient's skin and any intervening tissue into a blood vessel of the vascular system. A guidewire can then be passed through a lumen of the needle into the blood vessel accessed by the needle. The needle can be removed, and an introducer sheath in conjunction with, or subsequent to, a dilator can be advanced over the guidewire and into the vessel. The introducer sheath can facilitate introducing various devices into the vessel, while minimizing trauma to the vessel wall or minimizing blood loss during a procedure. For example, a catheter can be advanced through a lumen of the introducer sheath and over the guidewire into a position for performing an interventional procedure.
Upon completion of the interventional procedure, for example, the catheter and introducer sheath can be removed, leaving a puncture in the vessel wall. The puncture tends to bleed, particularly in the case of arterial punctures because of the higher arterial blood pressure as compared to venous blood pressure. Until the puncture is closed, clinical complications can result leading to increased hospital stays and costs. To address this concern, medical personnel are required to provide constant and continuing care to patients who have undergone an interventional procedure involving an arterial or venous puncture to ensure that post-operative bleeding is controlled.
A common method of controlling a puncture in a vessel wall is to maintain external pressure (e.g., human hand pressure) over the vessel until the puncture seals by natural clot formation processes. This method of puncture closure typically takes between 30 and 90 minutes, with the length of time being greater if the patient is hypertensive or anti-coagulated. Utilizing external pressure to control bleeding can suffer from several drawbacks regardless of whether the patient is hypertensive or anti-coagulated. For example, human hand pressure can be uncomfortable for the patient, can result in excessive restriction or interruption of blood flow, and can consume costly time and effort on the part of the hospital staff. Other pressure techniques, such as pressure bandages, sandbags and clamps can also suffer from drawbacks, including requiring the patient to remain motionless for an extended period of time and requiring close monitoring of the patient by hospital staff to ensure effectiveness of these techniques.